TUI chief backs calls for schools to stagger term time dates

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After discussing the prohibitive cost of holidays with the Department of Education, Peter Long said parents who send their children to private schools should pay more because “they can afford it.”

Speaking to the Financial Times, he suggested that, as private schools break up earlier than state schools, state school parents were being unfairly disadvantaged as they had less choice about when to take a holiday.

Instead, he proposed that counties should stagger school breaks in order to bring down prices during peak holiday times.

“There is an irony in that for the 93 per cent of children in state schools, the holiday starts at the end of July,” he told the FT. “For the 7 per cent of children that go to private schools, the holiday starts at the beginning of July.

“Those that can afford to pay more for their holiday don’t have to pay more for their holiday because they can go in the first two weeks of July.”

Parents who take their children out of school for a holiday are liable to be fined now that head teachers can no longer permit 10 days' leave in “special” circumstances, but only in “exceptional” ones.

Michael Gove, the Education Secretary, has also called on schools to stagger their term dates.

"There's no need to sacrifice your child's education in order to secure a cheaper holiday,” he said. “Schools now have the freedom to change their term dates in order to allow students and families the opportunity to go on holiday at different times.”

Abta, the Association of British Travel Agents, wants to stagger term dates too, describing the move as, “the best potential solution to relieve the pressure of demand during the short window of the school holidays”.

A petition asking for changes to the law that makes fining parents for taking their children out of school more likely has attracted more than 130,000 signatures.